I am asking this question because the young adult in question, is me. I am to move out in a few years, and it feels impossible to move far away from my hometown (which I want). I have no idea how to juggle both finances, a job, and the move itself. With the global inflation going on, it feels impossible getting hold of a decent apartment to rent.
What advice would you give someone like me? What should I keep in mind and prepare* myself for? What are your experiences moving out, or moving away from your hometown? How long did the process take for you, and how did you manage keeping a job that paid all your taxes and rent? If you could look back and give younger you some advice, what would you tell them?
(If it provides any context, I am North European.)
Buy a plunger before you need it.
Is that a US thing? In my 45 years the only time I’ve experienced a clogged toilet was when my sister tried to flush a stuffed giraffe. The giraffe hadn’t even done anything wrong. Traumatized and wet, it survived.
Not a US thing, a risk/reward thing. Even if you only see a clogged toilet once every 10 years, to know you could have fixed it in 2 seconds if you owned a $10 thing vs letting it sit and stink up your house while you run to the store to get a plunger is not a risk worth taking. Even worse, maybe your family has normal sized poops, but a friend of yours doesn’t. They tend to clog up toilets more often than average. They might have a poop knife at home to break it up and allow it to flush more easily, but you don’t. Now they clogged your toilet while you have company over, and instead of being able to fix it themselves in 2 seconds, and they have to embarrassingly ask where your plunger is, and worse, if you don’t have one, you have to leave in the middle of your fancy dinner party to go get a plunger from the store.
It’s a one-time purchase of a trivial amount of money. It doesn’t take up much space and can sit behind your toilet. It will last for the rest of your life. Why would you not own one when you consider the alternative? The upside of owning one is massive, the downside of owning one is minimal. The upside of not owning one is minimal, the downside of not owning one is massive.
Just buy a plunger, if not for you, for your guests. I haven’t clogged my own toilet since I was a dumb kid and put printer paper down there. But my guests or my guests children may have.